Birmingham Land Bank Authority

The Birmingham Land Bank Authority is a city-funded publicly-appointed group with the legal authority to waive delinquent property taxes and to acquire and consolidate abandoned properties in order to promote their redevelopment.

The idea of establishing a land bank in Birmingham had been discussed many times and was supported, in particular, by the Birmingham Land Reform Coalition.

Land banking was enabled in Alabama by a law passed in 2009 (Act 2009-738), enrolled into Section 24-9 of the 1975 Code of Alabama. A 2013 amendment, passed as Act 2013-249, expanded the powers of land banks.

For Birmingham, the land bank authority represented a key element of Mayor William Bell's "RISE Initiative", which is to also involve streamlined code enforcement, a new property management code, and enforcement of environmental regulations as tools to combat blight and stabilize neighborhoods at risk of decline.

On May 6, 2014 the Birmingham City Council passed a resolution proposed by the Mayor's office to create the city's authority. The resolution established a 7-member board with four members appointed by the Council and three by the Mayor's office (one of whom may be the Mayor). A Citizens Advisory Board was also created, with representatives of each Council District appointed by their respective Council members. The authority's initial budget was created by transferring $370,000 from the city's capital projects budget.

One element of Birmingham's land banking policy gives residents an option of taking over vacant, delinquent properties which adjoin their own homes if they maintain the properties for three years.

References

• Davis, Bryan (May 8, 2014) "Land Bank Authority passes, board will target blighted properties." Birmingham Business Journal
• Owens, Cody (June 4, 2014) "Birmingham’s fight against blight." Weld for Birmingham